Refueling system and method of a tanker aircraft comprising a boom hose adaptor

Abstract

A refueling system and method of a tanker aircraft (1) includes: a rigid boom (5); a boom hose adaptor (9) having a hose portion (8), and a coupling end (4); a sensor in the tanker aircraft (1) and collecting data of the situation of the receiver aircraft (3) with respect to the tanker aircraft (1), and a controller in the tanker aircraft (1) and in communication with the sensor to receive the data from the sensor, and the tanker aircraft (1) to control the a position of the rigid boom (5) to place the boom hose adaptor (9) within a range of positions according to the data obtained from the sensor.

1 . A refueling system of a tanker aircraft comprising: 
 a rigid boom configured to extend from the tanker aircraft and comprising a distal end which is distal to the tanker aircraft;   a boom hose adaptor comprising a hose portion in contact with the distal end of the rigid boom, and a coupling end located at a free end of the hose portion, wherein the coupling end is configured to contact with a probe of a receiver aircraft,    a sensor configured to be located in the tanker aircraft and obtain data of a situation of the receiver aircraft with respect to the tanker aircraft, and   a controller configured to be located into the tanker aircraft and configured to receive data from the sensor and cause the tanker aircraft to control a position of the rigid boom to place the boom hose adaptor within range of positions according to the data obtained from the sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The refueling system, according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to determine the relative position and/or attitude between the tanker aircraft and the receiver aircraft, and the data includes information representing the relative position and/or attitude. 
     
     
         3 . The refueling system, according to  claim 2 , wherein the sensor is a vision system. 
     
     
         4 . The refueling system, according to  claim 3 , wherein the vision system is based on infrared technology. 
     
     
         5 . The refueling system, according to  claim 3 , wherein the vision system is based on a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology.  
     
     
         6 . The refueling system according to  claim 3 , wherein the vision system is based on a thermal gradient of the receiver aircraft and an environment surrounding the tanker or receiver aircraft.  
     
     
         7 . The refueling system according to  claim 2 , wherein the sensor is a differential navigation system and the controller is further configured to determine the relative position between the tanker aircraft and the receiver aircraft. 
     
     
         8 . The refueling system according to  claim 2 , wherein the sensor is a differential global positioning system, and the controller is configured to determine the relative position between the tanker aircraft and the receiver aircraft. 
     
     
         9 . The refueling system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a load sensor located in the rigid boom or in the boom hose adaptor, wherein the load sensor is configured to measure forces between the tanker aircraft and the receiver aircraft when the receiver aircraft is in contact with the refueling system. 
     
     
         10 . The refueling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the rigid boom comprises a rigid fixed section and a telescopic section. 
     
     
         11 . The refueling system according to  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to control the position of the rigid boom by changing the orientation of the rigid boom in any angular direction with respect to the tanker aircraft and/or generate an elongation of the telescopic section of the rigid boom. 
     
     
         12 . The refueling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the rigid boom or the boom hose adaptor comprise a sensor configured to indicate that the receiver aircraft is latched to the boom hose adaptor coupling end. 
     
     
         13 . A tanker aircraft comprising the refueling system according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . A refueling method of a tanker aircraft comprising a boom hose adaptor, the tanker aircraft comprising: 
 a rigid boom configured to be extended from the tanker aircraft and comprising a distal end with respect to the tanker aircraft, and   the boom hose adaptor comprising a hose portion in contact with the distal end of the rigid boom, and a coupling end located at a free end of the hose portion, the coupling end configured to contact with a probe of a receiver aircraft,    the method comprising: 
 extending the rigid boom from the tanker aircraft, 
 contacting the coupling end of the boom hose adapter with the probe of the receiver aircraft, 
 obtaining data of a position and/or orientation of the receiver aircraft relative to the tanker aircraft by a sensor on the tanker aircraft, 
 receiving data from the sensor by a controller on the tanker aircraft, 
 controlling by the controller the position of the rigid boom to maneuver the boom hose adaptor within a range of positions according to the data received from the sensor. 
   
     
     
         15 . A refueling system of a tanker aircraft comprising: 
 a rigid boom configured to extend from the tanker aircraft, the rigid boom includes a proximal end section attached to the tanker aircraft and a distal end section opposite to the proximal end section along a length of the rigid boom, and the rigid boom is configured to deliver fuel stored in the tanker aircraft to the distal end section;   a boom hose adaptor connected to the distal end section of the rigid boom, the boom hose adaptor includes a flexible hose having a proximal hose end connected to the distal end section of the rigid boom and a coupling hose end section opposite to the proximal hose end, wherein the coupling hose end is configured to engage a probe of a receiver aircraft and the boom hose adaptor is configured to delivery fuel from the rigid boom through the flexible hose into the probe of the receiver aircraft;   a differential navigation system or a differential global positioning system connected to the tanker aircraft and configured to determine a position or orientation of the receiver aircraft relative to the tanker aircraft and generate data within information regarding the position or the orientation of the receiver aircraft, and   a controller connected to the tanker aircraft and configured to receive the data and generate commands, using the data, to maneuver the rigid boom to position the flexible hose of the boom hose adaptor within a range of the probe while the coupling end of the boom hose adaptor engages the probe of the receiver aircraft.   
     
     
         16 . The refueling system of  claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a relative position and/or an attitude between the tanker aircraft and the receiver aircraft, and the data includes information representing the relative position and/or attitude. 
     
     
         17 . The refueling system according to  claim 15 , further comprising a load sensor mounted to the rigid boom or the boom hose adaptor, wherein the load sensor is configured to measure forces applied to the boom hose adaptor due to the coupling of the receiver aircraft with the boom hose adaptor, and  
       therein load data including information regarding the forces is generated by the load sensor and received by the controller, and the load data is used by the controller to maneuver the rigid beam. 
     
     
         18 . The refueling system according to  claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to maneuver the rigid boom by adjusting a flight control surface on the rigid boom and by telescoping a telescoping beam of the rigid boom in and out of a fixed length boom of the rigid boom.  
     
     
         19 . The refueling system according to  claim 15 , wherein the rigid boom or the boom hose adaptor comprise a sensor configured to indicate that the receiver aircraft is latched to the coupling house end section.